{"id":111,"date":"2008-11-27T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-11-27T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orcutt.net\/weblog\/?p=111"},"modified":"2012-04-06T14:58:49","modified_gmt":"2012-04-06T14:58:49","slug":"abraham-lincoln-writer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/abraham-lincoln-writer\/","title":{"rendered":"Abraham Lincoln, Writer"},"content":{"rendered":"

He did\u00adn\u2019t go to a fan\u00adcy East\u00adern col\u00adlege. In fact, Abra\u00adham Lin\u00adcoln had vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly no for\u00admal edu\u00adca\u00adtion at all. How\u00adev\u00ader, his study of the Bible and the law, as well as his per\u00adson\u00adal and pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal hard\u00adships, turned him into one of the best writ\u00aders in Amer\u00adi\u00adcan his\u00adto\u00adry.<\/p>\n

We all know the sto\u00adry of Abe\u2019s Get\u00adtys\u00adburg Address: how he fol\u00adlowed ora\u00adtor Edward Everett\u2019s two-hour<\/em> ded\u00adi\u00adca\u00adtion address with a two-minute \u201cdit\u00adty\u201d of his own, prompt\u00ading Everett to remark, \u201cMr Pres\u00adi\u00addent, you were able to say in a few min\u00adutes what I could not in two hours.\u201d Abe had the gift of pith, not to men\u00adtion elo\u00adquence. We hear a lot about the Get\u00adtys\u00adburg Address, but we sel\u00addom hear of the doc\u00adu\u00adment Pres\u00adi\u00addent Lin\u00adcoln wrote a few weeks ear\u00adli\u00ader, estab\u00adlish\u00ading the last Thurs\u00adday in Novem\u00adber as a nation\u00adal day of Thanks\u00adgiv\u00ading.<\/p>\n

Yes, things suck right now. They suck like Chick\u00aden McNuggets. But they sucked a lot more back in 1863. The Civ\u00adil War had been drag\u00adging on for three long, bloody years; the Union had eked out a Pyrrhic vic\u00adto\u00adry<\/a> at Get\u00adtys\u00adburg that sum\u00admer; there were riots in New York, and fear was ram\u00adpant that the Con\u00adfed\u00ader\u00adates might make a final des\u00adper\u00adate attempt to cap\u00adture Wash\u00ading\u00adton, D.C.<\/p>\n

In oth\u00ader words, there was\u00adn\u2019t a hell of a lot for the Union (or the Con\u00adfed\u00ader\u00ada\u00adcy) to be thank\u00adful for, but Old Abe was wise. He knew that if we want\u00aded Prov\u00adi\u00addence to con\u00adtin\u00adue to bless our unwor\u00adthy ass\u00ades, the coun\u00adtry need\u00aded to show that it was thank\u00adful\u2014grate\u00adful<\/em> even\u2014for the few bless\u00adings it did have.<\/p>\n

Which is where Abe\u2019s Thanks\u00adgiv\u00ading Day Procla\u00adma\u00adtion comes in. Look at the writ\u00ading. Let Abe\u2019s mas\u00adter\u00adful use of sen\u00adtence vari\u00adety and rhythm wash over you and try to imag\u00adine our cur\u00adrent knuck\u00adle\u00adhead (Bush II) com\u00adpos\u00ading such a piece. And as you read Abe\u2019s words, try also to think about the dark times dur\u00ading which he wrote this (his own son died the year before) and real\u00adize that what has hap\u00adpened once can hap\u00adpen again.<\/p>\n

And now, I bring you Abra\u00adham Lin\u00adcoln:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By the Pres\u00adi\u00addent of the Unit\u00aded States of Amer\u00adi\u00adca.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A Procla\u00adma\u00adtion:<\/p>\n

The year that is draw\u00ading toward its close has been filled with the bless\u00adings of fruit\u00adful fields and health\u00adful skies. To these boun\u00adties, which are so con\u00adstant\u00adly enjoyed that we are prone to for\u00adget the source from which they come, oth\u00aders have been added, which are of so extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnary a nature that they can\u00adnot fail to pen\u00ade\u00adtrate and soft\u00aden the heart which is habit\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly insen\u00adsi\u00adble to the ever\u00adwatch\u00adful prov\u00adi\u00addence of almighty God.<\/p>\n

In the midst of a civ\u00adil war of unequaled mag\u00adni\u00adtude and sever\u00adi\u00adty, which has some\u00adtimes seemed to for\u00adeign states to invite and pro\u00advoke their aggres\u00adsions, peace has been pre\u00adserved with all nations, order has been main\u00adtained, the laws have been respect\u00aded and obeyed, and har\u00admo\u00adny has pre\u00advailed every\u00adwhere, except in the the\u00adater of mil\u00adi\u00adtary con\u00adflict; while that the\u00adater has been great\u00adly con\u00adtract\u00aded by the advanc\u00ading armies and navies of the Union.<\/p>\n

Need\u00adful diver\u00adsions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peace\u00adful indus\u00adtry to the nation\u00adal defense have not arrest\u00aded the plow, the shut\u00adtle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the bor\u00adders of our set\u00adtle\u00adments, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the pre\u00adcious met\u00adals, have yield\u00aded even more abun\u00addant\u00adly than hereto\u00adfore. Pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion has steadi\u00adly increased, notwith\u00adstand\u00ading the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the bat\u00adtle\u00adfield, and the coun\u00adtry, rejoic\u00ading in the con\u00adscious\u00adness of aug\u00adment\u00aded strength and vig\u00ador, is per\u00admit\u00adted to expect con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adance of years with large increase of free\u00addom.<\/p>\n

No human coun\u00adsel hath devised, nor hath any mor\u00adtal hand worked out these great things. They are the gra\u00adcious gifts of the most high God, who while deal\u00ading with us in anger for our sins, hath nev\u00ader\u00adthe\u00adless remem\u00adbered mer\u00adcy.<\/p>\n

It has seemed to me fit and prop\u00ader that they should be solemn\u00adly, rev\u00ader\u00adent\u00adly, and grate\u00adful\u00adly acknowl\u00adedged as with one heart and one voice by the whole Amer\u00adi\u00adcan peo\u00adple. I do, there\u00adfore, invite my fel\u00adlow-cit\u00adi\u00adzens in every part of the Unit\u00aded States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourn\u00ading in for\u00adeign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thurs\u00adday of Novem\u00adber next as a day of thanks\u00adgiv\u00ading and praise to our benef\u00adi\u00adcent Father who dwelleth in the heav\u00adens. And I rec\u00adom\u00admend to them that, while offer\u00ading up the ascrip\u00adtions just\u00adly due to him for such sin\u00adgu\u00adlar deliv\u00ader\u00adances and bless\u00adings, they do also, with hum\u00adble pen\u00adi\u00adtence for our nation\u00adal per\u00adverse\u00adness and dis\u00adobe\u00addi\u00adence, com\u00admend to his ten\u00adder care all those who have become wid\u00adows, orphans, mourn\u00aders, or suf\u00adfer\u00aders in the lam\u00aden\u00adta\u00adble civ\u00adil strife in which we are unavoid\u00adably engaged, and fer\u00advent\u00adly implore the inter\u00adpo\u00adsi\u00adtion of the almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be con\u00adsis\u00adtent with the Divine pur\u00adpos\u00ades, to the full enjoy\u00adment of peace, har\u00admo\u00adny, tran\u00adquil\u00adli\u00adty, and union.<\/p>\n

In tes\u00adti\u00admo\u00adny where\u00adof, I have here\u00adun\u00adto set my hand and caused the Seal of the Unit\u00aded States to be affixed.<\/p>\n

Done at the City of Wash\u00ading\u00adton, this Third day of Octo\u00adber, in the year of our Lord one thou\u00adsand eight hun\u00addred and six\u00adty-three, and of the Inde\u00adpen\u00addence of the Unit\u00aded States the Eighty-eighth.<\/p>\n

By the Pres\u00adi\u00addent: Abra\u00adham Lin\u00adcoln<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I could\u00adn\u2019t have said it bet\u00adter myself. Thank you, Abe.<\/p>\n

Now pass the turnip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He did\u00adn\u2019t go to a fan\u00adcy East\u00adern col\u00adlege. In fact, Abra\u00adham Lin\u00adcoln had vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly no for\u00admal edu\u00adca\u00adtion at all. How\u00adev\u00ader, his study of the Bible\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-craft","category-writers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2671,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions\/2671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}